Salt Rounds and Teddy Bears
by Faith229
Summary: Things never go simply, do they? As Dean Winchester realises when he finds himself with illegitimate twin babies and a fallen angel on his hands. Of course, any good part time parent/part time demon hunter needs some help along the way. Destiel.
1. Blast From The Past

**So, this is my first Supernatural fic! It's set somewhere mid season 5, although I suppose it's a bit of an AU. I wrote this before the 7x13 teaser came out, so there are no intentional parallels here! Rated T just to be safe, it'll probably only go so far as strong language and heavy fluff towards the end of the story. Enjoy and review!**

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><p>As far as their cases went, this has been a pretty simple job. Originally they'd thought it was something more, a demon of some kind that had decided to have a solo party in celebration of the upcoming apocalypse or something. Turns out it was just a simple salt and burn job. Which the brothers weren't gonna complain about, especially seeing as they had booked themselves in the motel for four nights and had only spent a day and a half hunting the ghost. Besides, it'd been a long time since they'd stopped for a break between the odd job and the huge task of keeping certain archangels from wearing them like a pair of leather gloves. So Sammy was sat at the crappy excuse for a dining table in their room reconnecting with some college friends on Facebook, and Dean had a date with a bucket of popcorn and a Dr Sexy M.D. marathon. Of course, this is the boys we are talking about here, and nothing ever stays simple for long.<p>

Dean had his eyes locked on the television as Nurse Caliente and the ruggedly handsome husband of one of her patients made out in the broom closet, occasionally shoving pieces (Well...handfuls.) of popcorn into his mouth, when his vision suddenly became blocked by a dirty trenchcoat.

"Oh come on! Mrs Ruggedly-Handsome-Guy is just about to walk in on them!" Dean yelled, throwing a piece of popcorn that successfully bounced off the angel's forehead rather comically. Cas frowned at him.

"Dean, now really isn't the time for joking about."

"Cas, this is the first break we have had in goddamn weeks!" Dean growled through gritted teeth. "You need to just let us…"

"Have you found something? Something that might help?" _Of course it would be Sam that drove their mini vacation to a halt_, thought Dean.

"Not exactly. It's more of a hindrance, really, but you need to know." He turned to face Dean directly. "What do you remember of a woman named Tara Daniels?" Dean blinked back at him innocently.

"Umm…Am I supposed to know who that is? Who is she, someone from a job or something? Sam, you recognise the name?" He asked, the woman not ringing any bells. Castiel looked at him with a look of almost…disappointment. Like he was ashamed that Dean had no clue who this woman was.

"Nope, sorry. I mean, it's not like I keep mental records of every person we've ever saved, so she could be from an old job." Sam shrugged, looking at Castiel in confusion. "Why do you ask, Cas?"

Castiel paced the room with a hand to his head, pushing back his fringe. The brothers watched him, baffled as to why this particular woman was giving Cas so much to worry about.

"Cas? You okay man?" Dean asked with genuine concern, shuffling to the end of the bed to talk to him better. Cas stopped directly in front of Dean, towering over him as he stood. One of his hands scrambled inside his coat, trying to find something within the pockets. After a few seconds he drew out a photograph.

"You honestly mean to tell me that you do not remember making love to this woman?" He shoved the photo in front of Dean's eyes. She was fairly young, mid twenties maybe? Long dark hair framed her face, and even though Cas didn't have much in the way of comparison, he knew she was probably considered highly beautiful by human standards. Hell, even by angel standards she was gorgeous. A wide smile that touched her bright blue eyes. Not typically Dean's type, even he would admit. Dean stared at the picture with his mouth slightly open, almost in awe.

"Tamara? From last year" He checked, looking up at Cas for confirmation. He nodded once.

"Yes, Tamara was her full name. Most people knew her as just Tara though. You remember her, yes?" Now Dean nodded, staying silent and waiting for further explanation. Castiel sighed heavily. "I'm sorry Dean, but…she's dead."

Dean's eyed widened in shock, his mouth falling further open.

"Y-y-you mean demons? Ghosts? Have you got any leads at all?" The words came rushing out of his mouth in one breath, looking over to his brother for confirmation that they would finish this thing. But Cas merely shook his head again.

"Fell off of a cliff side near her house about an hour ago. She died as soon as she hit the lake." Cas stated, eyes fixed on Dean waiting for his reaction.

"But then…what has it got to do with us? I mean, I feel sorry for the woman but it ain't our area." He queried, eyebrows knotting in confusion.

"Because she left behind two babies." He paused for a second to see the effect this statement would have on the brothers. Dean hadn't moved a muscle, but Sam's jaw dropped in realisation.

"But I don't get it, why is this releva-"

"_Your_ babies, Dean. _You_ fathered these children." Cas emphasised, although from the look on Dean's face he had divulged way too much to process in a very short time.

"Are you serious? Dean has kids?" Sam interjected, jumping up from his seat. Dean remained immobile. "How…how do you even know they're his?"

"Seeing as Lucifer and Michael can use anyone who is closely related to you by blood as a vessel, even only temporarily, the Winchester bloodline is heavily policed by certain groups upstairs. They could not be harmed when they were with their mother, but now they are vulnerable. Luckily I found out before anyone else, and I predict it will be hours until anyone else realises that they even exist." He paused, looking to Dean for some kind of indication. "Dean, are you even listening to a word I'm saying?" He knelt to the man's level, crouching down to look him in the face. When no reply came, he grabbed him by the shoulders and shook. Dean raised his head enough so that he could look Cas in the eyes.

"You're telling me…" Dean whispered roughly "That I have two little kids I had no idea about, who now have no mother, and are at mercy of the two biggest sons of bitches in heaven?"

"Yes. And that we have to collect them straight away, before anybody realises that their mother is gone. So please Dean, stay collected for just an hour while we do this?" Castiel begged of him, almost gently trying to coax the other man into submission. He held out a hand and Dean took it, pulling himself up. He stared numbly at his brother, who quickly ran over to grasp Dean by the shoulders and give him a quick once over.

"Dude, it's okay. We'll get through this, I promise. Just like we always do." Sam offered a small smile, clapping his brother on his back before turning to Castiel. The angel was holding out two fingers towards each brother.

"So, I take it we're flying Angel Airways then?"


	2. Starlight and Oberon

**Second chapter in a day? I am on a roll! This chapter takes the plot a little further, I guess. I'm trying to introduce the Destiel in little bits and pieces, but it's so damn hard not to just make them get on with it! I tried to put in a reference to the angel that Mary put over Dean's crib when he was a baby too, just because I thought it would be a nice little nod to the canon. Anyway, enjoy and review!**

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><p>They had been zapped to a small cabin by the lake, near to the edge of a sheer drop. The view from the edge of the cliff was breathtaking, miles and miles of woodland broken only by the network of streams connecting to the lake below. <em>Easy enough to fall over the edge if you were careless while admiring the scenery<em>, Sam thought. He could see how Tara could easily have slipped to her death. Castiel led his way into the cabin, with Dean following silently behind him. Sam watched the streams far away from the edge of the cliff for a moment before running to catch up with the pair.

It was evident that Tara had been a bit eccentric. Strings of multicoloured fairy lights were the only source of light in the majority of the rooms. Tiny glass figurines of elves on toadstools and goblins in little houses littered the shelves. Most of the couch has been taken up by stuffed unicorn toys. As the men made their way into the nursery, they noticed a hand painted plaque on the door.

"Starlight Moonbeam and Oberon Pegasus?" Dean spoke, surprising the other two. He raised an eyebrow at his younger brother. "I'm sorry, but I refuse to raise my kids as Starlight and Oberon. I mean, come on, that's practically child cruelty right there!"

Cas opened the door and stepped inside, curiously taking in his surroundings. Compared to the rest of the house, the nursery was pretty average. Lilac walls, teddy bears, shelves stacked with diapers and wet wipes. A few framed paintings of fairies playing in meadows and jumping on clouds covered the walls. The cribs were next to each other, a large mobile covering both of them. Sam walked over and toyed with one of the dolls attached to the mobile.

"Angels watching over them while they sleep." Sam grinned, looking over at Cas who was apparently not amused by the weird, glittery cherub things that passed for 'Angels'. When nobody acknowledged his pun, Sam looked towards his brother and opened his mouth to make another comment, but he stopped when he saw the look on his brother's face.

Dean was stood over the cribs looking in at the sleeping babies. The insides of the cribs were identical in all ways but colour. The blankets, teddies and sleepsuit of one of the cribs were a delicate pink colour, while the other was a muted lemon colour. Dean's mouth was slightly open as he lowered a hand first into the pink crib, gently running a fingertip across the tiny hand. After a moment he turned his attention to the baby boy, stroking his soft cheek delicately. _His_ baby boy, Dean thought, and _his_ baby girl. He continued to gaze at the twins. He had imagined them to be bald, but both of them had a head full of fine strands of hair. The boy's was a lot darker than the girls, but Dean was sure he'd heard something about how babies hair and eye colour changed a lot when they were very young. He stood there, just watching them.

"Dean?" Cas said with a surprisingly gentle tone. "Dean, we really have to get going. Sam, could you pick up some of the supplies, but not enough to make it look like anything has been taken?" Sam nodded in agreement, grabbing a baby bag from the changing table as he began to collect diapers, pacifiers and anything else he thought they might need. Dean broke his gaze to look at Cas quizzically.

"We need to make it look like the babies went with Tara otherwise the police will assume they've been kidnapped, which will give us a lot of unnecessary trouble." He looked at Dean apologetically. "Essentially, we need to make the police believe that Tara committed suicide, taking the babies with her. It's highly unlikely that they will find her body in the lake, so hopefully they'll assume that the babies were with her too. We're going to need to change the babies names, obviously. Bobby can get them birth certificates."

Cas leant forward to gently pick up the baby boy. He stayed asleep, but he snuggled closer to the angel's chest when he held him in his arms. Dean thought he might have been imagining it, but he swears he saw a tiny smile tug at the sides of Castiel's mouth just then. Cas looked at Dean and then nodded his head towards the baby girl, indicating that he should pick her up ready to leave again. Dean was as delicate as Cas had been, if not even more, and pulled her close to the space between his chest and shoulder. She didn't stay as docile as her brother, and began to stir at the movement.

"Shhh now, come on." Dean murmured, rocking her softly. "It's okay, beautiful." Castiel raised an eyebrow at him, an oddly human gesture for the angel.

"You prefer the name Beautiful to the name Starlight?" He asked without a trace of sarcasm. Dean gave a short laugh.

"No, I'm not gonna name the kid Beautiful, it's just a pet name or whatever. Like when people call their dog '_Baby_', or their wife '_Sweetheart_'." He looked at the kid intently. "Although, they do need new names, I'll give you that. Starlight Moonbeam Winchester just don't have that ring to it."

"Fine, you can rename the children, but now isn't the time. We need to get to Bobby's." Cas said this like he had assumed that the hunter would have no problem with his two idjits and their angel turning up on his doorstep at gone midnight with two babies who were most definitely not gonna stay asleep until morning. He made his way to the front door with 'Oberon', calling out to Sam as he did so. Dean tailed behind holding 'Starlight', trying to think of some more appropriate names in his head.

"How about Jimmy and Roberta?" Dean supplied when all three of the men and the two babies were outside. Sam threw him a bitchface.

"Dude, I will not let you name your kids after Led Zeppelin. I'm not gonna be the crappy Uncle that just stands by and lets that happen." Sam snapped, half jokingly and half serious.

"I will zap Dean and I to Bobby's house, then come back to take you back to the motel and we can drive the Impala to meet them. Understood?" Castiel addressed Sam, who nodded before holding the baby bag out to Dean.

"You're sure as hell gonna need this stuff before I get back. I'd say they probably need changing soon anyway." Sam grinned at his brother, who pulled a face at the mention of any diaper changes. Cas stretched two fingers towards Dean's head.

"Wait!" Dean held a hand in front of his face, stopping Cas from taking them anywhere. "Sammy, hold…'Starlight' for a second?" He winced as he said the name, inwardly cursing his apparent preference for stunning yet kooky women. Once Sam had taken the baby, Dean grabbed one of her tiny ankles and gently popped off one of her pink baby booties. He approached Cas and 'Oberon', doing exactly the same thing to the boy. After he had the two mismatched boots, he walked over to the edge of the cliff and held them by their laces over the edge.

"I'm sorry about this, Tara. I really am. I don't know if you're in heaven or what, or if you can hear me, but I swear, I will do _everything_ I can to protect them." He let go of the laces, watching the boots fall the huge drop into the lake. "Rest in Peace, Tara."

He walked back over to Cas and Sam, where his brother was watching Dean with a small, sad smile. She might not have been killed by a vengeful ghost, or possessed by a demon, but he still felt bad for her even if they couldn't have protected her. Dean took the baby girl back from Sam and looked at Cas, nodding to show he was ready.

"What are we waiting for? Let's go annoy an old drunk with some tired infants!"


	3. Mother Hen

**Sorry about the late update, I've been really busy recently with my first week at work. But hey, look, new chapter! This is pretty much all fluff, but I'm going to bring the plot in some more in the next chapter, complete with a guest appearance from one of my favourite characters :D There are a few references in the proposed baby names, kudos to you if you get them! As usual, enjoy and review!**

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><p>Cas frowned at Dean the second they arrived at Bobby's place.<p>

"Will you be able to cope with both of them while I'm gone?" He asked, holding the baby boy in one arm and the bag of supplies in the other. He put the bag on a nearby armchair, being careful not to disturb the child.

"Course I will, I mean they're asleep right? I'll just put them…" Dean stopped, looking around the lounge for a safe place to let the babies sleep until Dean could get proper cribs. "You know what? They'll be fine if I put them in the middle of the guest bed, right? I won't let them out of my sight, I promise." He explained quickly at the look on Cas' worried face. Cas sighed heavily, picking up the bag again and making his way up to the guest room with Dean in tow. They laid the babies lightly in the middle of the king sized bed. Cas disappeared to the airing cupboard, returning seconds later with a giant mound of pillows in his arms, high enough to hide his face. Dean held back a giggle and took half of the pillows off the angel.

"Really, Cas, now ain't the time for an impromptu pillow fight." He jested, grinning at his friend. When Cas didn't answer, Dean grabbed one of the smaller cushions and smacked him over the head with it. Cas ignored the attack.

"They aren't for fighting, they're for a nest." Cas started to place the pillows in a circle around the babies, indicating that Dean should do the same.

"Ohh, I see…" Dean observed what Cas was doing for another second before helping him, enclosing the kids in a ring of padding. "Kinda smart, actually."

"It doesn't mean you can leave them alone, you know that right?" Cas lectured. Dean knew, it wasn't exactly as if he was a complete dumb ass.

"Yeah yeah, Mary Poppins. How did you get to be such a good baby sitter anyway? It's not as if you've been around kids." Dean interjected, glancing up to see the angel smoothing the blanket covering the twins. Not that Dean would ever admit to it, but he thought it was sorta…adorable.

"It's not hard. It just comes naturally." Cas shrugged Dean's comments off. "I should go back to get Sam. Are you sure you'll be okay with them?" Cas checked.

"Hey, let's just have a quick reminder of whose kids they are again? Oh, right…that would be me. Your motherly instincts might be good, but I'm still their daddy." Dean stopped himself there, thinking about what he had just said. "Whoa…I'm their daddy. That's just…" He was lost for words. Cas gave him a smile, a real, genuine, full on sunshine-y smile before disappearing into thin air. Normally Dean would complain, maybe make a sarcastic remark about goodbyes or a joke about getting Cas a collar with a little bell on it, but he suddenly found that he really wasn't in the mood.

He went to sit on the edge of the bed before stopping, realising that he could wake the twins up pretty easily if he jostled them. Instead he chose to pull the armchair by the wall close to the bed and sat beside them, thankful that they had remained asleep this long. His mind drifted back to potential names. Keith and Michaela? James and Lara? He was pretty set on some middle names, it was just their first names he was stuck on. He'd barely delved into his mental record collection when the tell tale sound of wings behind him and two soft thuds alerted him of Cas' appearance.

"I thought you were driving back with Sam?" Dean asked, paying more attention to the two large, rectangular boxes now in front of him than the angel himself.

"I thought that my services would be of more use here. I popped into a store on the way here and picked up these." Cas offered nonchalantly. "I thought it would be better than a makeshift nest."

Dean opened one of the boxes to find a navy blue folding travel cot. He pulled it out and opened it up, revealing a sort of play pen area with a soft bottom and sides decorated with brightly coloured pictures of teddies floating on balloons.

"I think it doubles as a sort of cage for the baby in the daytime, and a sleeping area at night. So you can concentrate on research while they play." Dean stared at him in shock.

"You…you stole two portable cribs for me- I mean, them?" Dean said, cursing himself inwardly for the subconscious slip of the tongue. Cas shifted awkwardly.

"I had no money, and you needed it. There was plenty of stock, they won't even notice they're missing." Cas reassured Dean. He pulled the other travel cot out of its box, unfolding it in the dark.

"You know, you're pretty damn good at this." Dean commented, watching as Cas laid a blanket on the bottom of the crib. "Maybe you can be their mother hen or whatever?" Dean chuckled, preparing the other crib.

"Are poultry generally considered to make good parents?" Cas asked, tilting his head to the side in a gesture that Dean had come to know well.

"Nah, Cas, it's just a figure of speech." He snorted.

"So I'm not their "Mother Hen", I'm just their mother." Castiel confirmed. Dean gaped for a few seconds.

"Well, uh, I mean…not exactly…" He floundered. "I mean, you can take care of them and stuff, but that doesn't mean…" He coughed. He was interrupted mid flow by the sound of footsteps on floorboards in the hallway.

"Bit of warning would have been great." Bobby grumbled sleepily. "Just drop on by whenever you feel, not like it's my home and not a damn motel." He rubbed his eyes before blinking at the sight on the bed.

"Hey Bobby. So, uh, I know this might be…" Dean began.

"You wanna go ahead and explain to me why there's two rugrats in my guest room?" Bobby asked, eyes narrowing at Dean and completely disregarding Castiel.

"See, that's the thing…" Dean was cut off again by Cas this time.

"Dean impregnated a woman last year, and now the woman is dead, and the archangels could be after the children so we have to protect them." Cas stated simply.

"And where exactly are you gonna bring up twin babies? Cause you sure as hell ain't raising them here, cause no matter how much I look after you boys, I ain't prepared to allow you to let two mini hellraisers loose in here, I'm sorry." Bobby sighed, leaning on the door with his arms folded.

"Aww come on Bobby, you're practically their granddaddy!" Dean teased, but Bobby refused to play along.

"I'm sorry, but it's not gonna happen. I'll help you look for a place by all means, but…" Bobby was interrupted by the sound of one of the twins awakening. "And _that_ is my cue to get outta here. Try not to destroy my guest room?" And with that, Bobby was gone, running down the stairs to get away from any baby business.

"Never figured the old man would be scared of a diaper change." Dean winced, holding up the crying baby girl to smell her. "Yeah, definitely needs changing. Wanna throw the stuff over here? I'm gonna need a diaper, wet wipes…"

"Rash cream, changing mat, toy to use as a distraction technique, I know." Cas grumbled, clearly offended that Dean has thought he needed instructing.

"Think you're so good at this? You go right ahead then." Dean held the kid out to Cas with a smirk. Cas blinked at him before putting the changing supplies on the bed.

"Fine. Looks like your attention is needed elsewhere anyway." Cas jutted his head in the direction of the baby boy, who had begun to stir in response to his sister's cries. He took her from Dean, putting her down to change her. Dean still hadn't gotten over exactly how good Cas seemed to be with these kids. He knew that Jimmy had raised a kid though, and assumed that it was his experience that was showing itself when Cas looked after the twins.

"You're gonna put me to shame, you know that right?" Dean quipped, now rocking his son in his arms and doing his best to keep him quiet. He knew that there would be hell to pay if they kept Bobby up all night. "You know, it's a shame that angels don't have babies or anything, cause you'd make a great daddy to a few little angel babies. Shoulda done some cloud seeding after all." Dean joked.

"Angels cannot procreate." Cas frowned, still in the middle of changing the diaper.

"Well then, you'll just have to settle for being second daddy to these little monsters then, cause I can't see good ol' Uncle Sammy pitching in to help with the down and dirty stuff any time soon." He whispered, the baby in his arms now back off to sleep. He swore he heard the angel give a low laugh behind him.

"Of course I will assist you in any manner possible, but you don't need help, Dean. You will be a great father, I have faith in that." Cas murmured.

Dean smiled to himself. It was an oddity for the angel's words to be the ones that reassured Dean in situations like this, but honestly? Right now he felt like those were the words he had been waiting to hear since they had been thrust into this crazy situation hours ago. And if that was what it took to make Dean feel better, well then he was okay with that.


	4. Uncle Gabe

**Two updates in a day, again! I have a feeling that I'm settling into a pattern now, writing loads at the weekend and giving it a rest during the week. However, I'm feeling pretty motivated of late, so you might be lucky enough to get another update tomorrow maybe? We shall see... Like I said in the last chapter, a surprise appearance here! More plot than last time, but I couldn't help myself and had to sneak in some fluff too...Oh, and the babies finally get names! Hope you like it, and P.S. reviews make me update quicker ;)**

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><p>Dean woke up late the next morning in Bobby's guest room, sunlight streaming in from between the old curtains. At first confusion hit him, as he had expected to wake up in an uncomfortable motel bed in a room that had been paid up for the next few days, but then reality set in and he remembered the events of the previous night. With a sudden jerk, he twisted around in the bed to check inside the two cribs, finding them both to be empty. Panicked, he sprinted down the stairs into the kitchen area.<p>

"Has anyone seen the…" He started, but stopped himself when he saw the incredibly odd sight around the kitchen.

Sam was at the oven finishing off a batch of pancakes, although by the look of the syrup covered plates surrounding him it wasn't the first batch of the morning. Bobby was sat at the table pouring over a local newspaper, which wasn't too out of the ordinary except that he was looking at the real estate pages instead of scouring for odd news stories. Possibly the oddest sight of all was that of the twins in shiny new red high chairs, Cas sat by their side alternating spoons of baby food between them.

"Is this…am I dreaming?" Dean blinked his eyes, clearly quite dazed. "What the hell is going on?"

"I thought you might like some proper breakfast this morning, instead of a burger and a Red Bull. You know, because budding parents need their energy and all." Sam stated with a grin, putting a plate of pancakes and syrup by the chair next to Bobby. Dean sat down, picking up his cutlery. "Cas brought the twins down here when they woke up, decided you needed some rest. Got us some more equipment too." Sam motioned towards the highchairs. Dean smiled at Cas in thanks.

"I really appreciate it, dude." He leaned over the table and clapped Cas on the shoulder, pulling faces at the babies next to him as he did so.

"It was nothing, really." Cas dismissed and continued feeding the twins.

"What about you, old man? Not thinking of giving up this grand estate, are ya?" He smirked sarcastically.

"Hell no, I'm looking for you, ya idjit." Bobby grumbled, circling an advertisement for a one bedroom apartment in the town. "You're gonna need somewhere to stay now. Can't raise two kids on the road, no matter what your daddy thought."

"Yeah, well, the job makes it kinda hard to settle down, especially with what's going on at the moment. But I'm sure that…" Dean stopped, feeling a change in the air pressure in the room and the soft sound of feathers. He was facing Cas, so it definitely wasn't him. Which could only mean trouble…

"Hey fellas! What, no invitation to the baby shower? I'm offended!" Gabriel covered his mouth in fake shock, before throwing himself onto a nearby armchair. All of the men in the kitchen glared at him.

"Why the hell are you here?" Dean growled, standing up and abandoning his breakfast.

"Morning to you too, sunshine!" He turned to Sam. "I guess you haven't given him coffee yet then, huh?" He said in a stage whisper behind his hand.

"The last time we saw you, you threatened to trap us in an alternate reality until we said yes to Michael and Lucifer. So I'll ask again; why are you here now, all smiles and puppies and lollipops?" Dean folded his arms, staring at the archangel.

"Well, you see God finally figured out a way to settle the score between dear old Michael and Lucifer. Thought I'd come let you guys know." Gabriel shrugged. He pulled a bag of sweets from his pocket and began eating.

"What does he plan on doing?" Castiel asked, standing up and joining Dean by his side in confrontation of his brother. Gabriel mimed zipping up his mouth, locking it and shoving the key into a highly uncomfortable area.

"Now _that_ would be telling! Sheesh guys, you think we'd risk anyone other than God knowing the plan? Hell, _I _don't even know what he's gonna do. But I _do_ know that it means you, the Sasquatch, grandpa and your boyfriend can stay safe playing happy families. Fun times all round, am I right?" Gabriel grinned through a mouthful of M&M's.

"Wait, what do you mean, 'boyfriend'?" Dean protested.

"How do we know we can trust you?" Castiel asked, ignoring Dean's offence.

"Well, you kinda don't. Father is refusing to speak to anyone, and he certainly won't wanna see you after all that's happened. I guess you're just gonna have to…have faith." Gabriel chuckled. Suddenly he got up and made his way past Dean and Cas, over to the babies who had been quietly watching the scene unfold.

"Well ain't they just the damn cutest things you ever did see! They got names?" Gabriel said cheerfully. Dean growled and started moving towards the babies, before Cas threw out his arm and stopped him.

"He won't hurt them." He turned to address his brother. "Will you, Gabriel?"

"Of course not! Uncle Gabe isn't gonna hurt you, is he?" Gabriel cooed, stroking the cheek of the baby boy.

"Was there anything else you wanted to tell us, or was that it?" Sam interjected from the kitchen.

"Ehh…nah. That was pretty much it. Wanted to keep you updated, but there really isn't much to update on. Just hold tight and God'll sort it out." Gabriel had now lifted the baby girl from her chair, and was bouncing her up and down. If looks could have killed, Gabriel would have been used as an angel blade pin cushion in that moment, because Dean was pretty damn close to breaking point.

Before he could say anything, Cas had gripped his arm and dragged him out the backdoor.

"What are you doing? Did you _see_ that smug son of a bitch in there? I don't know what he's playing at, but he's playing a game all right! That's all he ever fuckin' does!" Dean snarled as soon as they were out in the cool air. Cas stood in front of the door unmoving.

"You're wrong."

"Cas, I'm telling you, there is something going on here…"

"No, Dean, there isn't. I can tell. Gabriel was always a terrible liar, especially to his brothers. He's telling the truth." Cas reassured calmly. "But you just need to take a moment, okay?" And for whatever reason, this put him at ease instantly. If Cas trusted Gabriel, even though he was a complete and utter dick…then Dean could too.

Dean took a deep breath and sat down on the wooden step, holding his head in his hands and closing his eyes.

He was a little surprised when he felt a weight on the wooden space next to him, and the material of the old trench coat barely touching his side.

"Gabriel was correct on one account, certainly. They do need new names." Cas brought the issue upfront again, because even he was aware that the names given to the children were not exactly orthodox, even for the offspring of a demon hunter. Dean chuckled at this.

"Honestly, I'm stuck. I mean, John and Mary are a given for middle names, I know that much. It's the least I can do, name my kids after them right?" He lifted up his head to look at his friend. "What do you suggest for names then, seeing as it looks like you're gonna be an honorary parent to these kids anyway?"

"I…I really wouldn't know where to begin." Cas admitted, staring down at the faded wood. "I know a great deal of biblical names, but I can't imagine you would be fond of any of them."

"Well, I sure as hell ain't calling my kid Jesus or anything like that." Dean quipped, but Cas shook his head.

"There are many biblical names still in popular use today that aren't as odd as Jesus. What about Joseph?" Cas suggested, but Dean snorted.

"Joseph John? Nah, I don't like it. Besides, he doesn't feel like a Joseph, you know?" Dean said, struggling for the words to describe exactly how his son wasn't a Joseph. Or a Jesus.

"Okay then…what about Noah?" sighed Cas, realising that getting Dean to name his children after anyone who did not belong in a classic rock band was going to be an incredibly arduous task.

So when a smile stretched slowly over Dean's face at the sound of the name, Cas was more than a little shocked.

"Noah John Winchester." He grinned, looking into the distance dreamily. "Baby Noah…I like it, Cas. I like it a lot." He laughed, clapping his hands together. "Okay, one down…I guess I'd better have a biblical girls name too, to match."

There were a few moments of comfortable silence before Dean spoke up again. "Is Beth a biblical name?"

"Well…Bethany was the name of the town that was home to Lazarus. And obviously, you will have heard of Bethlehem. So you could always choose one of those and shorten it to Beth, I suppose." Cas spoke. "Where did you get the name Beth from all of a sudden, after all this time of thinking of names?"

"Oh, a song. Just…popped into my head." Dean muttered. He tipped his head back. "Bethany Mary Winchester. Beth and Noah. Noah and Beth." He said, more to himself than for the benefit of the angel. "I think…we have a winner."

"Bethany and Noah Winchester." Cas breathed, so softly that it was almost as if the names were sacred. His eyes locked onto Dean's, and all of a sudden they were both laughing. Hysterically. As if the apocalypse wasn't happening, as if demons didn't exist, as if they were just ordinary men.

Slowly, they stopped, resorting to just smiling at each other in the heat of the sun.

"We should…" Dean motioned his thumb in the direction of the door.

"Yeah…we probably should…" Cas said, standing up and holding a hand out to help Dean up.

Dean accepted it, pulling himself up, and then he just…held on. Just for a second or two longer than necessary, but still longer than he should have. Dean met Cas' eyes again before letting go of his hand.

He wasn't sure what he wanted to find in those eyes. Confusion? Awkwardness? Affection? Dean didn't know, but what he was sure of was that he didn't expect to find pure normality in the cobalt eyes. Like what had just happened was run of the mill. Dean coughed before going back into the house, not entirely sure of what just happened there on the porch.

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><p><strong>After writing this, I'm pretty curious...How do you guys feel about Sabriel? Because it is definitely something I would consider putting into the story, even if it was just brief flirting. Or course, it wouldn't take over Destiel or anything.<strong>

**Also, if anyone caught the song reference, Dean is talking about the song Beth by Kiss. I know it was used in Glee, but it sounds like something Dean would do, name his daughter after a ballad by a classic rock band like Kiss! And I had decided on the name Beth anyway, but it just fit oh so well with his personality.**


	5. Cheap Digs and Bathtime

**Managed to get another update in, yay! So, I'm still undecided on whether to include a little bit of Sabriel in this story, but I'll see how it goes. Anyway, I'm glad that people seem to be liking this story! This is a little bit of plot, and some more fluff...But I warn you, the next few chapters will have a lot more plot than usual, possibly a little bit of angst too...Oh, and before I forget, I should probably point out that Bobby is walking in this story. Which was a silly mistake of mine, because the story is set before Crowley but after the leg shot, so logically he should be in a wheelchair. But we'll just say that this is slightly AU and it never happened, shall we? As usual, enjoy and review!**

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><p>When they were back inside Dean had to take a moment to gather his thoughts, because the weirdness just kept on coming today. Gabriel was sat on the couch with a baby on each knee, and Sam was next to him dangling a toy over the babies' heads. Bobby hadn't moved from his spot on the table, and was still scouring over the papers.<p>

"You okay, Dean?" Sam asked with a reassuring smile, just to let him know that Gabriel had not eaten, burned, sold out to his brothers, or in any other way harmed the babies while he was outside. Dean nodded, but couldn't stop himself from glaring at the archangel, even if he had been proven to have good intentions.

"You gonna tell me off for playing with the cabbage patch kids?" Gabriel asked Dean, and Dean swore he almost heard a note of sincerity. Of course, that didn't mean that Dean was going to play 100% nice guy.

"They have names, dickwad." Dean snapped. Sam and Bobby looked at him in surprise, but Gabriel just snorted.

"Watch your language around the kiddies, Papa Dean!" He gasped in fake horror, putting his hands over the twins' ears.

"Wait, you…you named them?" Sam stuttered. "Out there?"

"Well, I mean Cas helped me. You know, stopped me from naming them after bands in my tape deck." Dean said with a grin, but the grin slid off slightly when his eyes met Cas for the first time since they had come inside. He still looked normal, but there was something else behind it…

"Noah John and Bethany Mary." Cas replied with a slight smile. Sam positively beamed at the pair of them, and even Bobby couldn't hide the smile from his face.

"That's great! Really, I love it!" Sam laughed, taking his niece from Gabriel's knee. "Hey there, Beth. Sure is a lot better than Starlight."

"And here begins 18 years of favouritism." Dean commented dryly.

"I'll get round to Noah in a second, okay?" Sam chuckled, still cradling Beth in his arms. A short cough came from behind him.

"Well, it has been a pleasure getting the stink eye from you bozos for the past half hour, but I've got people to meet and places to be, so if someone would like to take the miniature here?" Gabriel held Noah up in the air for whoever would take him. Dean made a move to go and pick him up, but Cas got there before him.

"It's okay, I got him." Cas reassured, copying Sam's movements with Beth. Gabriel watched his brother curiously, even with a little head tilt that reminded Dean of when Cas didn't understand a reference or a joke.

"Huh." He muttered quietly. "I mean, I joke a lot, but I never would have _actually_ guessed…" Gabriel looked at Castiel with his eyebrows knitting together for a few seconds, not saying a word. Suddenly he snapped to his senses, giving the room a cheesy grin before disappearing into thin air.

"What was that about?" Dean asked, frowning at the now empty space in the room.

"Oh, you know Gabriel. Just a cheap dig." Cas muttered bitterly, rocking Beth.

"Huh. Well what do you know, I think I just hit some luck right here." Bobby suddenly interrupted from the table, his hand tapping his pen on a small notice in the paper.

"A guy I know, Fred Hughes, I think he's renting out an apartment. He bought this place for his daughter after she came back from college, but he's put it up for rent. Just outside of town, went over there when they first got it actually, helped Fred with some of the wiring. Nice little place, two bedrooms, open plan lounge and kitchen and a bathroom. Ground floor too." Bobby yawned.

Sam and Dean exchanged looks of approval. They were going to be spending a lot of time at Bobby's place anyway, so it wouldn't hurt to get something more permanent near him. And there was the bonus that Bobby was friends with the guy who owned the place, so he could be pretty damn certain that there had been no demonic goings on in the place before they moved in. And of course, they could probably get Bobby to negotiate a discount.

"Sounds good. Any chance you can give Fred a call, ask him about it?" Dean asked, actually pretty impressed that Bobby had found something so quickly.

"I'll see what I can do. He'll probably be out fishing 'til the evening though, so I might call in then." Bobby grumbled. "Though don't you go thinking I'm gonna do everything for you. I ain't no housekeeper."

"Two bedrooms…who would have what?" Sam thought out loud.

"Well, I guess either we can turn one into a nursery and put two single beds in the other one, or one of us takes a bedroom and the other sleeps in the lounge. Either way, I'm thinking the twins are gonna have to have their own room." Dean sighed, stretching and looking at his abandoned and now cold pancakes. Sam bit his lip.

"Actually, Dean…I was thinking…Well, I was thinking that I carry on like normal. Hunting, staying in motels, trying to get some info on how to defeat Michael and Lucifer. I mean, I would stay pretty close by, just in case, but…I just think that it's our best bet." Sam finished.

Dean gaped at him, before looking to Bobby and Cas for their opinions. Judging by the look on Bobby's face, he had already discussed this option with Sam previously. _Probably planned all this while they let me have a nice lie in_ thought Dean bitterly. At least Cas had the decency to look a little surprised.

"A-a-are you serious?" Dean sputtered.

"Dean, what choice do we have? We _need_ to do something, but you have to stay with Noah and Beth. Unless you can come up with a better idea…we're screwed." Sam put simply.

"Could you not stay here? Do research with Bobby, go out with him on the occasional hunt?" Dean was prepared to do pretty much anything to guarantee that his brother had his back covered, and the thought of Sam hunting alone made him more than a little nervous, even though the rational part of Dean's brain knew that Sam could cope on his own.

"I'm sorry, Dean, but we need to do whatever is convenient for everybody. And I honestly think that me carrying on with the hunting is gonna be the best bet." Sam said apologetically.

Dean sighed heavily and slumped down onto the couch, into the space that Gabriel had occupied not long ago. It was gonna be a long fight to convince his brother to stay, but Dean wasn't gonna give up that easily.

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><p>"Try not to let them destroy anything until we get back, okay Dean?" Bobby yelled from the doorway. He was going with Sam to view the potential apartment. Dean was originally going to go with Bobby instead, but then the twins had started to get grouchy after their evening bottle, so he had taken Sam to judge what would be best for Dean and the kids.<p>

Castiel had even volunteered to stay with Dean and help him look after the babies, which Dean could have spent hours dwelling on and overthinking about, but if he was brutally honest he would take any help he could get, even if it was Gabriel popping in with a bag full of baby toys and lollipops. So if Cas wanted to lend a hand, then that was fine with Dean.

"I'll try not to. Remember to ask about the decoration!" Dean called into the hallway, and received the sound of a slammed door in return.

It wasn't as if Dean gave a crap about the décor of the place, he just needed to check that it would be okay to paint devils traps on the floors of the place without getting kicked out. He went over to Noah's cot, watching him lie on his back contentedly sucking his thumb, occasionally making the odd noise. Dean blew a raspberry at his son and giggled. Noah gave him a toothless grin back.

"Cas, how you doin' up there?" Dean yelled up the staircase. Cas was currently bathing Beth in a very shallow layer of water in Bobby's tub, using a special baby bathing seat he had found in a supermarket.

"She…uhh…she seems to be having fun." Cas shouted back, sounding uncertain. "She's clean, but she's refusing to get out. Every time I go to lift her, she starts crying and fussing again. I think she just wants to play in the water."

Dean sighed and picked up Noah, heading upstairs.

"You wanna go next, huh Noah? Get Uncle Cas to give you a bath?" Dean whispered to the baby as they climbed the stairs. The words flowed from his mouth without any thought process, but he found that it just didn't sound right. Uncle Sammy? _That_ sounded natural. So did Grandpa Bobby. Hell, even Uncle Gabe sounded okay, and Dean wasn't even sure where that had come from. But Uncle Cas? No. Uncle Castiel? _Worse_, if it was possible.

He entered the cramped bathroom, choosing to stand in the doorway to give Cas room to manoeuvre.

Cas had wisely abandoned his coat, suit jacket and tie to bathe Beth, rolling up his shirt sleeves too, just in case they got wet. Somehow, he had managed to get some bubbles on the tip of his nose, but he hadn't yet noticed and Dean point blank refused to point it out to him, deciding to let the angel figure it out by himself.

"You want to take Noah, and I'll try getting cutie pie here out of the tub?" Dean said, holding his son out to Cas.

They swapped places in the confined space of the bathroom, Cas holding Noah by the doorway and Dean crouched down by the tub holding a fluffy towel.

"Come here, you…" Dean said softly to Beth, leaning into the tub to pick her up. She willingly let Dean take her out of the water, which seemed to grate on Cas slightly. Dean noticed this and laughed.

"Not jealous, are ya?" He chuckled, drying the feather-soft brown hair of his daughter. He moved out of the way so that Castiel could bathe Noah next.

"No. Why would I be jealous?" Cas grumbled.

"She's just gonna be a daddy's girl, ain't ya?" Dean said, tickling the youngster under the chin. Castiel muttered something under his breath as he put Noah into the bathing seat. Dean knew better than to poke an angry dragon, so he ignored Cas and took Beth into the guest room to change into her bed clothes.

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><p>Three hours later and they had had no luck putting the babies to sleep. Dean was sure that a multitude of 'reliable' sources had lied to him, because everything he looked at seemed to encourage bathing as a nice, calm activity before bedtime to relax babies and help them sleep easier. And yet, his kids seemed to be allergic to sleep.<p>

Dean considered for a moment that they were missing their mother, but there wasn't exactly anything he could do to help that, and besides, they had been fine the whole day. It was just bedtime that was the issue.

Dean was pacing the room holding Beth, trying to get her to calm down. But she just kept on wailing, no matter what Dean tried.

Cas was sat in the armchair rocking Noah in his arms, having a little more success than Dean. He was muttering something under his breath, too quiet for Dean to hear, but he could still see Cas' lips moving in the dark. Dean stood still by the open curtains, looking out into the moonlit sky. When he stopped, he realised that he could hear Cas, although it was still barely above silent.

It was almost rhythmic, Dean soon realised. Cas was…singing. Dean couldn't hear the lyrics, but he was definitely singing.

He bounced Beth up and down in his arms, willing her to quieten down so that he could strain his ears to listen to Cas. Suddenly Dean had a minor brainwave, and he decided to try and put his pinkie finger in the babies mouth. She began to suck on the finger like a makeshift pacifier, silencing herself almost immediately. _Well that works, at least_, thought Dean.

And yet, he found that he could still not understand what Cas was singing, even with the dead silence.

That was when it hit him: Cas wasn't singing in English.

Beth had grown very close to sleep, so Dean made his way to the bed without making any harsh movements. He laid back on the pillows, cradling the girl in his arms, still vaguely aware that Cas was still singing.

His last thought before sleep hit him was that Enochian was oddly beautiful, in its own way.

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><p>Bobby unlocked the door, still reeling at his loss.<p>

"Damn fool was _never_ that good at poker, not in my memory." He growled, opening the door quietly. He knew that if he woke the kids up with a creaky door at one in the morning, Dean would rip his eyeballs out, family or not.

"Yeah well, that whiskey left you sloppy. You know he was drinking tea and water, not Jack Daniels, right? Tried to get one up on you…" Sam sniggered, holding onto a small stack of signed paperwork. "And it worked!"

"Shut it, boy. I'm gonna just…lie on the couch for a minute. Go check on that idiot brother of yours, tell him the good news or whatever." Bobby stumbled over to the couch, snoring before his head had even hit the cushion. Sam chuckled and made his way up the stairs.

When he walked past the ajar door of the guest room, he was shocked. And a little bit freaked out by the cuteness of the scene.

Dean was propped up against the headboard of the bed, his snoring mouth pressed into the crown of his sleeping daughter's head. Beth was snuggled into the space between Dean's chin and chest, fast asleep.

Castiel was asleep peacefully in the armchair beside the bed, Noah cuddled into his chest. He had covered both of them with his trenchcoat, Noah's blue blanket lying abandoned by Cas' feet.

"Damn, Dean. I never had you down for domesticity." Sam grinned, pulling his phone out of his back pocket to take a picture of the scene.


	6. A Day Off

**Well hello there again...First off, I'd like to say thank you for the reviews! There are definitely a few suggestions that will be taken into account in the next few chapters. Back to this chapter now, more plot and fluffiness! Shipper!Sam, yay! And my first cliffhanger...Like usual, enjoy and review!**

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><p>Dean didn't remember removing his jeans, tucking himself under the duvet or putting Beth in her crib, but he <em>must<em> have done at some point because it was now daylight and Dean was half naked underneath the duvet, and Beth's crib looked like it had been slept in the night before. Like the previous morning, the twins were not in the room, but Dean knew that they had probably been taken downstairs for some breakfast. He got out of bed and pulled his jeans on, heading downstairs and praying that no more archangels had decided to make a housecall.

He was relieved to find only the expected faces in the kitchen. Again, Sam was making breakfast, Cas was feeding the babies and Bobby was at the table, but this morning Bobby was sat before a pile of paperwork instead of a newspaper.

"Good morning, Dean." Sam said with a polite smile.

And from that moment on, Dean knew that something was going on. Because damn him if Sam had ever been overly polite to him without reason. Dean stopped dead in his tracks and glared at his brother.

"What the hell have you done to my car?" Dean snarled. Sam blinked at him.

"Nothing…why?" Sam asked, looking genuinely confused.

"Okay, not the car then. But you've done _something_." Dean took a step closer to Sam, but Sam backed up until he was against the counter.

"Dean, what the hell?" Sam asked, starting to look worried.

"Dean, leave your brother alone, and haul your ass over here to look at these papers." Bobby interrupted. "Because I sure as hell didn't get my ass beat at poker just for you to forget I even went over there to get those goddamn papers for you. Hell, I even got some photos for you."

Dean threw one last glare at Sam before he sat down next to Bobby. He scanned his eyes over the mess of papers in front of them, a mixture of contracts, conditions and room measurements. Finally he found what he was looking for, and slid the photographs from the bottom of the pile.

It was obvious that daughter had been in the process of moving out. The lounge was mostly occupied by open cardboard boxes, the walls were devoid of pictures and a shelving unit in the corner of the room was half empty, half filled with mismatched books, movies and CDs. But once you looked past the clutter, the room itself was nicely done. Averaged sized, painted a fresh green colour, modern looking and openly connected to the kitchen. The kitchen was pretty small, but done up in lime green, chrome and shiny black furnishings. Dean looked at the next picture. The main bedroom. The daughter had yet to begin packing up this room, so it was still filled with personal items. The wall above the bed was covered in a collage of Polaroid's, mostly depicting college parties and evenings out with friends. The room was bright red, and looked almost cosy. The second bedroom was smaller, although only by a fraction. It was currently being used as a study, and had been decorated fairly neutrally. The walls were a light blue, and the large window by the desk made the room feel bright and airy.

"So, you're saying this sounds like a good deal then? When could we move in?" Dean asked Bobby, sitting back in his chair and considering the photos before him.

"Well Ella- that's Fred's daughter- is moving to Chicago next week, so any time from them. She got a degree in Law, got hired by a big company over there. It's a nice place, and it'd get you outta my hair, so I'm all for it." Bobby sipped on his coffee. Dean nodded.

"Well it looks like a nice place. The rent affordable?"

"Wouldn'ta picked up the contract if it wasn't, would I?" Bobby grumbled, picking said contract out of the pile to show Dean the figures. Dean looked impressed.

"Looks like we got ourselves a place then! Sam, you gonna wanna share the room, or are you okay with sleeping on the couch? Because I'm still thinking that Noah and Beth are gonna need their own room." Dean clapped his hands together, a grin stretching from ear to ear.

"I'm not sure, Dean. Look, we'll cross that bridge later, 'kay?" Sam's face was oddly unreadable.

Dean was certain that between this and the odd politeness when he had come in, there was something up with the guy. Even worse, Bobby seemed to be in on it too, because Dean knew that he'd have picked up on the strange behaviour by now and yet Bobby hadn't questioned it.

So, they were hiding something from him then. Dean sighed.

"Whatever, dude. Look, have you got anything you need to tell me?" Dean stood up and walked over to his brother, dropping the defensive act that he had put on the first time that morning that he had gone over to Sam.

He saw Sam's eyes flicker from him over to where Cas was still quietly feeding the babies, ignoring the rest of the bickering family, and back again. He opened and closed his mouth, like he had decided that what he really wanted to say wasn't appropriate at the time. He stopped, closing his eyes for a second, and when he opened them he had a small, calculating smile on his face.

"You know what, Dean? You're stressed. You've been thrown into this, and…and you need a rest. Take the day off. Leave Noah and Beth with me for the day, go to a bar or see a movie or something. Hell, even just go and work on one of the cars, just go and do _something_ to relax. It's not like I've spent much time with them, and I _am _their Uncle after all." Sam clapped his brother on the shoulder with a warm smile. Dean blinked at Sam, confused.

"You're taking them off my hands for the day? Seriously?" Dean gaped, taken aback by the sudden kindness.

"Well, yeah. And Cas' too, obviously. I know he's had a hard time looking after them too…" Sam gave a nervous cough. "So, you know. He can go back to Heaven for the day or whatever he wants to do too." Cas looked up at this, finally joining the conversation.

"That will not be necessary. I'm perfectly fine here, though there is not much for me to do at the moment apart from look after the twins."

"You have to learn to relax, Cas. Maybe…maybe Dean could teach you?" Sam suggested, his voice rising slightly. Dean furrowed his eyebrows.

"You suggesting I hand Cas a beer and get him to go mess around under the hood of a car? Because somehow I really don't think that would be his idea of relaxing."

"Actually, I'd…" Cas interrupted.

Sam, Dean and Bobby all whipped their heads around to listen to him. He faltered for a second.

"I would…enjoy that." He admitted sheepishly. Dean's eyebrows shot up.

"Seriously? That's your kinda thing?" He asked, still trying to grasp the concept of an angel toying with the engine of a car when Sam interrupted them.

"Okay then, that's settled! You can take some beers outside or something, go work in the sun. Hell, there's even some left over pie in here that you could probably take out with you…" Sam suggested helpfully, gesturing towards the fridge.

Dean let go of his concerns and smiled at Sam, reaching into the fridge to get the pie out. He grabbed a nearby spoon and ate a mouthful of pie straight from the container.

"I have no idea what you're doing or why, but I think I like it." Dean said heavily through a pie-filled mouth. Sam rolled his eyes and walked away with a calculating smile.

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><p>Dean rolled himself out from under the beat up old Mustang, his face grubby with the mixture of sweat and grease that came with working on cars in the midday summer sun. He had long ago discarded his shirt, but he had kept his tank top on. Mostly to use as a rag to wipe his hands on within easy distance. He grabbed his beer from on top of the toolbox he was working with.<p>

Cas was leant against the bumper of another nearby car, eyes drifting off into the distance. The heat had not affected him, and he still wore all of his usual layers in the stifling weather. He was on his sixth beer and was still perfectly sober, which Dean had put down to his angel mojo.

"You had that slice of pie yet?" Dean said, sitting up and wiping his forehead. Dean had eaten most of the apple pie Sam had given them, but had saved the last slice for Cas because he claimed to have not tried it before. Dean had been adamant that Cas was going to try pie, because if Cas continued to live without ever trying pie…well, Dean wasn't going to let that happen. Not on his watch.

"It looks…strange. The inside looks like the food you get in little jars that I give to Noah and Beth. I believe that humans should abandon mushy food once they can walk." Cas said, peering into the tub with the last piece of the pie in it cautiously, like it might just grow legs and jump down his throat. Dean chuckled.

"You'd be surprised. I mean, the outside is crunchy, so it kinda goes together. Just…try it? For me?" Dean tried to imitate his brother's puppy dog eyes that worked so often on anyone he dared to aim it at. Cas sighed heavily.

He looked at Dean solemnly, picking up the spoon and gathering up a small bit of pie. He poked his tongue experimentally at the apple.

"Don't be a wuss about it, just eat it!" Dean said exasperatedly, not managing to keep the glee out of his voice.

Cas shoved the tiny spoonful into his mouth, chewing it awkwardly. Dean couldn't stop himself from letting out a loud laugh at this.

"So…thoughts?" Dean asked when Cas had finished eating the mouthful. Cas furrowed his eyebrows in concentration.

"It was…pleasant." Cas said. After a few seconds of silence he dived towards the rest of the pie, shovelling it into his mouth with the spoon. Dean chuckled.

"So, that's settled then. We're in agreement that pie is good." Dean laughed, leaning into the car to turn up the stereo. "We're gonna be the brilliant parents who give their kids apple pie in their lunchboxes instead of normal things like sandwiches and fruit, aren't we?"

"Probably. A little bit of pie will be fine, but I'll make sure they get a sandwich too." Cas replied. He had finished the pie and was now wiping crumbs off his coat. Dean grabbed a tool and rolled himself back under the car. And then it hit him. What he had said. And how Cas had replied.

"So…um…" Dean said, muffled by the car. "We're…we're their parents now, are we? I mean, me, obviously, but you too now, huh?" He babbled.

"I suppose that depends on your definition of a parent. I'd classify a parent as someone who loves the children very much, and is prepared to care for them and protect them. So yes, I guess that makes me a parent." Cas paused for a second. "You're worried that they'll think we have a relationship. That we'll act…married." Cas had a very tiny smirk at the corner of his mouth. "But you shouldn't worry." He took Dean's unusual silence as a cue to continue. "Think of Bobby. You and Sam consider him a parent, yes? You also consider your own father as a parent. But you don't think of your father and Bobby as…"

"Okay, I am gonna stop you _right_ there." Dean winced, not really wanting to imagine his father and Bobby being married. "I get it, okay?"

He rolled out from under the car again, hands covered in black grease. He stood up, walking towards Cas. "Look, I appreciate you doing this. I really do. I mean, it's gonna be real hard on them growing up in a hunter family, and the more support they've got...well, the better."

He absent mindedly wiped the back of his hand across his face, trying to wipe off some of the sweat. He didn't succeed in getting most of the sweat off, however he _did_ manage to give himself a grease moustache.

"Thank you, Dean." Cas said, staring straight at the moustache. Dean followed his eyesight and tried to look at his own top lip.

"Did I…Have I got a…" Dean muttered, trying to wipe away the stain but only making it worse. Cas sighed and stepped closer.

"Just _stay still_". He said sternly. Dean stood still, watching Cas' hand move to his face.

He rubbed his thumb over Dean's top lip firmly, trying to loosen the grease. Cas' nail scraped under Dean's nose and his hand flew up to grasp Castiel's wrist.

"Hey, watch it!" Dean warned, his voice low but quiet. His eyes met Cas', and he briefly remembered the previous day. They had…_held hands._ And now this.

Dean only remembered this very briefly, because before he had realised what he was doing he had lowered his mouth down to meet the angel's.

Dean had no idea what the fuck he was playing at, but he knew that Cas was kissing him back and they were both leaning on the bonnet of the car and Cas was kissing him back and he could still feel the grease on his face and _Cas was kissing him back._

Cas pulled away by a fraction, enough so that Dean knew to stop, but still close enough that their noses were touching.

"Dean…" Cas muttered. "Dean, this is…" He flicked his eyes upwards to meet Dean's and leant in again, but before Dean could reciprocate Cas suddenly threw himself on the car bonnet.

"Cas?" Dean said urgently, trying to get a grasp of his arm.

"Dean…W-w-what's happening to…" Cas strained, sounding incredibly weak.

He let out an inhuman scream, thrashing on the metal of the car. Dean tried to hold him down, but the angel threw him at least ten feet away from him. When Dean sat up quickly, he could see Sam and Bobby sprinting towards them, having heard Cas' screams.

"What the hell happened to him?" Sam yelled, jogging towards Dean. All of a sudden, a strange light started emulating from Cas. A white light, getting brighter and brighter…

"Shut your eyes!" Dean screamed, throwing a forearm over his face. He could see the light getting ever brighter, even behind the protection of his arm. And then, as quick as it had started, it stopped.

The yard was deadly silent. No screaming, no thrashing…just silence.

Dean looked over to see Cas lying unconscious next to the car, and felt his heart drop like a stone into his stomach.

There was no way this could be good.


	7. Celestial Siblings

**Back in action! I am so, so very sorry for keeping you waiting, especially on that cliffhanger! But I'm sure you all know the drill, regular 9-5 job, lots of things to do in between, yadda yadda. But it's here now! Anyway, there's a lot of plot shoved in here, flashes of fluff too though. Now with 20% more candy loving archangels, yay! Enjoy and review!**

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><p>Sam and Dean carried the limp body of Cas between them to Bobby's panic room. Bobby held the door open as they lay him on the simple bed in the middle of the room.<p>

"C'mon, Cas…" Dean muttered, scanning his eyes over his body quickly to check for any evidence as to what exactly happened.

"You two look out for him, I'd better go sit with the kiddies. They should still be asleep, but…" Bobby shrugged in the doorway. "You get him on his feet again, you hear?" He went back into the house, leaving the brothers with their angel. They had become aware that it wasn't just them that was considering Cas part of the furniture now; Just like the boys had been treating him like a brother, they knew that Bobby had begun to see Cas as a third honourary son.

"What happened out there, Dean? I mean, did you see anyone? Was there like, I dunno, lightning or something? Anything?" Sam asked urgently. Dean shook his head.

"We were just…talking…and then he started screaming and throwing himself around." Dean replied. Sammy didn't need to know that they were most definitely _not_ talking at the time, and Dean was pretty sure that it wouldn't make a difference. At least, he damn well hoped that the kissing wasn't a contributing factor to the fact that Cas was pretty much dead to the world right now. Sam bit his lip hesitantly, and for a moment Dean honestly thought he had been found out.

"What if…what if we called someone? I mean, if it's a Heaven thing…" Sam sighed, eyebrows furrowed. "We could always call Gabriel. He might know something."

"Fine, whatever. Make the call then. Just…just do it quickly, okay?" Dean said hurriedly. Sam opened his mouth to question Dean's lack of reluctance to contacting the archangel, but decided against it and stood up to make the call.

"Uhh…Gabriel…If you're there…Could you just…" Sam started to say, pacing the room. But before he could get any further, the tell-tale rush of wings came from behind him.

"Wow, that was quick. You waiting on us or something?" Dean asked Gabriel without looking up. Sam, however, had spun around and was now staring open mouthed at Gabriel.

"Dude, what happened to you? You look like…well, you look like crap." Sam said truthfully. Dean turned to look at him now too, alarmed. Sam was right, Gabriel looked an absolute mess. Gabriel ignored them, rushing over to Castiel's side.

"Oh no no no no no…." He muttered frantically, eyes running up and down his brothers limp body. "I didn't…I mean, I thought he was just gonna…He _knew_ he was down here, but he still…" He spun around, grabbing handfuls of dark gold hair and grinding his teeth. "Fuck!" He yelled at nobody in particular.

"Wait, what the hell are you talking about? Wanna fill us in, or…?" Dean put out a hand to calm the archangel, but Gabriel continued.

"Look, if you tell us what happened, then we can work together to make him better. Bring your brother back." Sam said, calmer than Dean had been. Gabriel turned to him in silence for a second, and for a moment it seemed the situation had been diffused. But then Gabriel let out a low, dry laugh.

"Leave it to the grown ups, boys. Make him better? Are you for real, here? You _know_ there's no damn way to 'Make him better', be realistic." Gabriel turned to look at Dean, all traces of humour gone from his face. "Dean knows. Don't you, Deano? As soon as he hit the ground, you'd figured it out."

Sam blinked at Dean with curiosity. Dean stayed silent, arms folded over his chest, until he met Sam's eyes.

"He fell, Sammy." He said quietly. "He's…he's human now. I don't know how, or why, but he fell."

"Dad made him fall, that's why." Gabriel added, voice growing louder as he spoke. "As part of his genius plan to work it out between Michael and Luci. I mean, _he_ thought it was a great plan, but I said to him that it wouldn't work, that it was too risky." Dean and Sam looked on at him in confusion. Gabriel sighed heavily in frustration.

"Basically, Dad did something to take all the grace away from Earth. Any angels upstairs would be safe, it was only gonna be the ones down here that got hurt. Said he knew that Michael, Lucifer and all their followers would be down here looking for you two meatheads, so he'd be sure that they would have their grace removed. He sent out a…warning signal…of some sort to all the angels still loyal to heaven, calling them back up a minute or so before he did his thing. I'm pretty sure Cas is the only piece of collateral damage, though. I mean, there was a close call with Balthazar _just_ getting to heaven in time, but apart from that…"

"Who's Balthazar?" Sam muttered. Gabriel chose to ignore him.

"So, wait, did he just not get to heaven on time, or…?" Dean asked, keeping one eye on the unconscious angel-but-not-really-anymore at all times.

"Guess so. There's no way he couldn't have heard it, cause _man_ dad knows how to shout. So he must have assumed it was nothing important, or certainly not as important as whatever he was doing at the time. Which brings me to the million dollar question…" Gabriel cocked his head in a move which spookily reminded Dean of the archangels younger brother. "What _was_ he doing?"

There was a minute of awkward silence as all three men darted their eyes across each other in anticipation of an answer that nobody really wanted to give or assume. When Gabriel began to tap his feet impatiently though, Sam decided to try for an answer.

"Dean said that they had been out in the yard, just talking." Sam shrugged. Gabriel glared at Dean with one eyebrow cocked, expecting a longer explanation to Sam's answer. When none came, he sighed and looked back around at Sam.

"Sammy, why don't you go play Uncle for a while? I think the big brothers need to have a few words alone." Gabriel said, making shoo-ing gestures with his hands when Sam refused to budge. Sam caught Dean's eye to make sure he agreed with this, before slamming the large metal door shut on his way out. And now Dean had Gabriel's full attention, and he was regretting letting Sam leave them alone together.

"Talking, Dean? _Really?_" Gabriel snorted. "You must think we are extremely stupid…"

"Shut. Up." Dean growled through gritted teeth. This only caused Gabriel to snigger gleefully even more. "Look, it doesn't matter what happened, only that we find a way to wake him up, okay?"

"That's assuming there _is_ a way to make him wake up. But hey, at least we can assume Lucifer and Michael are in the same position, right? And of course, that's the important thing." Gabriel's voice dripped with sarcasm as he stepped around his brother's bed. It was Dean's turn to snort now.

"Honestly, Gabe? I can call you Gabe, right?" Gabriel stopped in his tracks to pay attention to Dean. "I didn't even realise you cared about him. I mean, he's just another one of your legions of celestial siblings, what difference would it be to you if one of the ranks dropped out?"

"And _that_ is where you are wrong. You know, Dean, I'm not as big of an ass as you seem to think I am. I'm a good guy, honestly."

"Right, of course. So all those guys you killed when you were posing as a trickster?"

"Justified."

"Naturally."

"We could do this all day long, 'til the cows come home. This whole 'sparring with words' thing, is it working for you? Because I'm getting bored."

"Well then we should probably get to the task at hand and get Cas standing again."

"Ohh yeah, I bet you'd _love_ that." Gabriel said perversely. Dean blinked at him.

"Dude, that was the worst attempt at sexual innuendo I have ever witnessed. Seriously."

Gabriel's smile faltered slightly as he tried to think of a good enough comeback.

"Yeah…well…in _your_ endo." He quipped, smiling broadly again, seemingly happy with his own retort. Dean put one large hand over his face.

"Angelic sense of humour, man. Never gets old." He muttered, hands on his hips. "So what, we're just gonna keep watch over him until he wakes up?"

"Unless you've got a better plan, then…yeah. That is exactly what _you're_ gonna do." Gabriel said, a smile still tugging at the corners of his mouth.

"And what exactly do you think you're gonna do?" Dean asked, rounding in on the archangel. Gabriel took a hesitant step back before standing tall, puffing his chest out while facing the hunter.

"Celestial stuff, of course. Very important celestial things that you can't do because you're a puny human, and therefore I must do them while you keep watch over your boyfriend here."

"He's not my…" Dean started, but Gabriel put a hand up to stop him.

"Save it for the fam-a-lam breakfast a-waiting you in that poky little kitchen of yours. I gotta dash, and I _really_ don't have time to listen to you having your big gay crisis. Adios!" Even as Gabriel zapped himself from the room, Dean could feel a thousand creative insults weighing down heavily on the tip of his tongue.

Dean walked over to the door of the panic room, inspecting the protection around the seal of the grimy metal door. He was considering topping up the salt lines when he heard a spluttering cough come from behind him, like a drowning man coming up for air.

He ran over to Cas, who was just starting to sit up weakly. His face was extraordinarily pale and his movements were slow and measured, like he was in a great amount of pain. When Dean noticed this, he clutched onto the man, holding him steady.

"It's okay, it's okay. I got you. You're okay now." Dean reassured him, propping Cas' back up against his chest. Cas slumped backwards, his head falling haphazardly onto Dean's collarbone and his nose brushing against his Adam's apple.

"What…happened…" He muttered, his voice reedy and quiet. Dean could feel him breathing against the hollow of his throat, and he tried in vain to remember if angels needed to breathe. "Something isn't right."

"No, it's not. But you'll be okay, I promise. We're gonna get through this, okay?"

Dean raised one hand to pet the mass of dark, messy hair in a comforting gesture. Cas seemed subdued at the moment, but Dean worried about how he would react when he heard the full picture. But for now, at least Cas seemed to trust him.

"Okay, Dean."


	8. Late Night Shopping

**Um...hello again? Again, really sorry for leaving it this long. Work, life in general, ect, all contributed to this being so late. Nevertheless, it's here now! I've noticed that the chapters keep getting longer and longer, and I was wondering whether you guys preferred this sort of length now? Anyway, here it is, in its oddly fluffy glory! R&R!**

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><p>Truth be told, Dean was concerned. He had expected rage, or grief, or despair, hell even shame. He didn't expect Cas to act as if Dean was telling him that he'd found a hole in one of his shoes when he explained what had happened out in the junkyard.<p>

When Dean had finished telling him, he calmly asked to be left for a while. He told Dean that he would like some time to just be alone and quiet with his own thoughts, and Dean respected this. But the second he stepped over the threshold, he could practically feel Cas sulking behind him.

So he turned back. Didn't say a word, just sat back down next to him on the rickety camping bed, earning a grateful look from Cas.

They sat like this until the sunlight streaming in through the ceiling fan grew a deep red, until Sam decided it was time to check in on them. Dean had forgotten to tell either of them that Cas had woken up, he'd just assumed they would come down eventually when the babies had been dealt with. Sam's eyes went wide when he saw Cas not just awake, but sitting up alert. He let out a relieved laugh.

"Cas, how are you doing?" He took a step towards Cas with his hand raised as if he was going to clap him on the shoulder, but Dean had gotten up and dragged him into the hallway before he barely had the chance to raise his foot.

"Dean, what the hell man?" Sam asked once they were out of earshot, brushing off his brother's tight grip on his arm.

"He's fallen, Sam. I don't think it's sunken in yet, but he fell alright. Said he felt like something was missing when he woke up, and I'll bet you anything that it's his grace he's not feeling." Dean put his hands on his hips, jaw clenched.

"So we're saying that Gabriel was right? God did his thing to make all the Earth bound angels lose their grace and become pretty much useless, including Michael and Lucifer, but then Cas got hit too?" Dean pulled a face at the word useless.

"I swear, you call him useless in front of his face? I _will_ punch you. That is an honest to God threat, I swear." Dean said through grinded teeth. "They poor guy's been through enough." Sam opened his mouth to make a comment, but decided against it and resorted to just staring at Dean.

"Then Gabriel and the other loyal angels got told to get their asses back to Heaven before he did his thing…but Cas missed it?" Sam asked in confusion. Dean shut him up with a look that screamed 'Just don't ask. Not now.'. Sam walked along the corridor, playing his words over in his head before speaking, just in case he annoyed Dean again.

"Well then…I guess you've got no choice now. Gotta let me stay here, now you're gonna be needing the room." Sam sighed with a slight smile. Dean blinked away his snarl to make way for bafflement.

"Room? Room for what?" Dean furrowed his eyebrows, crossing his arms as a pre-defence for the conversation he worried would come next.

"Come on Dean. We both know he can't stay with Bobby. No offence to the guy, but he'd drive Bobby up the walls, you know that." He shrugged. "If Cas is human now, we can't just send him out into the world alone. He's gotta stick with us, and the most convenient way for him to do that is to stay with you and the twins."

Dean understood that. He really did. But at the same time, his head kept on bringing up the most random of issues that Cas living with him would cause. Like how he would raise two babies while also weaning an angel onto humanity and still maintaining his hunting. Or whether one of them would have to get a steady job to keep paying the rent. Or how much money they would spend a week on cheeseburgers between the pair of them. Or…

"And where exactly is he gonna sleep?" Dean blurted out in a quick burst. Sam sniggered, clapping Dean on the shoulder.

"You'll figure something out, I'm sure." He grinned. After a moment of consideration, his face suddenly turned serious. "I would have thought the more pressing issue would have been getting him his own stuff first of all. If he's a fully functioning human now, he's gonna need the basics. Some clean clothes, a toothbrush, razor, things like that. You wanna pop out now and get some stuff? Take Beth and Noah too, they're pretty restless and the drive would probably calm them down enough to get them to the sleepy stage." Sam suggested, giving Dean a small smile before disappearing back into the house. Dean presumed it was to tell Bobby that he'd be relieved of his babysitting duties for a little while, so that he could get back to his usual evening ritual of crappy whiskey and even crappier Greek translations. Dean made to follow him, but then he heard a soft footfall behind him.

"I'll come too." Cas said in a small voice, not meeting Dean's eyes. He was leaning on the doorjam for support, still unused to his new, weaker state. Dean didn't ask for an explanation; he knew that in some situations, it's sometimes best to just get over it and back to normal. Or, whatever constituted as normal for them, at least. He nodded, holding out an arm for support. Cas took it gratefully, and together they made their way back to the rest of the family.

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><p>"I thought Bobby said they would be asleep by now?" Cas grumbled, rescuing a screaming Noah from the confines of his carseat. Dean was opposite, unclipping Beth.<p>

"Yeah, well, kids are unpredictable right?" Dean shrugged, putting Beth into the seat of a shopping cart. "Hand him over, I'll clip him in." He said, opening his arms for Noah.

Once they were inside the store, Dean pulled a scrap of paper from his breast pocket.

"Okie dokie, let's have a look shall we?" He sighed, eyes scanning the list before him. "Clothes, shoes, wash kit, shaving stuff…vitamins?" He frowned at the babies. "Your Uncle is gonna be the death of me, you hear?"

"Sam feels it's necessary for me to consume a certain amount of vitamins every day?" Cas asked, one hand on the cart at all times.

"Apparently. Personally, I don't think that it's all these weirdo health freak chemicals you need. You're weakened, right? Gotta get some good ol' fashioned protein in you." Dean said with a smile, reaching over to pat Cas lightly on the stomach. Cas frowned at him, confused. "Burgers, Cas. Lots of 'em."

"But from what I've seen in the newspapers and on the television, it appears that these burgers you so enjoy actually have a negative effect on humans health. The people shown enjoying burgers in the media tend to always be rather large, waddling people in badly stretched clothing. Surely this can't be a coincidence?" Cas stated plainly. Dean thrusted his bottom lip out.

"Are you calling me fat?" He said in a fake-hurt voice.

"No, I'm generalising. I think I'd prefer to eat something else." Cas said, eyes scanning the shelves of toiletries before them.

"Okay, whatever. We'll try you on a bit of everything. Let's start here first though. This one's an alright brand…wanna smell a few of them and choose one?" Dean offered a bottle of shower gel that he had plucked from the shelf to sniff. Cas took it tentatively.

"Too bland. Let me try some others…" Cas put the bottle back, looking at the gels either side of it. Dean patted him on the back.

"You find a gel, I'll be here finding a good razor for you, okay?" He pushed the cart a few feet along the shelves towards the shaving materials. He picked out a good quality razor, not too expensive but sturdy. He wasn't sure if Cas had ever shaved, he always seemed to be in a permanent state of 5'o'clock shadow, although Dean suspected that this was purely because Jimmy Novak's facial hair had been frozen in time when Castiel had taken over his body. But now that Cas was human, Dean had assumed that the growth would continue, and already he had noticed that the stubble had grown darker since Cas had fallen.

Dean turned around to show Cas the razor, but before he could say a word he was in front of him, waving a bottle in his face.

"I found one I like." He said proudly. "It smells…nice. Familiar. Comforting."

Dean grabbed the bottle that was being practically shoved up his nostril and read the label.

"Huh…that's weird. I used to use this brand too. Stopped a few weeks back, switched to a cheaper brand. It's nice, right?" He smiled, putting the bottle and razor into the cart. Dean would look back that evening and swear it was a trick of the light, but right then it almost looked as if Cas blushed a little at these words.

They carried on further down the aisle. Dean wrestled inwardly in response to a topic which he knew would have to be brought up eventually, finally giving an awkward cough to signal a conversation of mild importance.

"So…this whole apartment issue." He started, toying with a blue face cloth he had stopped nearby. "I mean, I'm sure you've figured it out by now, but there's no way that you could stay with Bobby. And besides, I figure you're gonna come in handy when it comes to looking after these two little demons." He ticked the babies in turn under their chins, easing out giggles from both of them.

Cas nodded solemnly, taking the cloth from Dean and putting it in the cart. "Then comes the issue of rooming, you see. Two medium bedrooms, neither exactly big enough for two cots and a bed. It's a possibility that I could get Bobby to shift the wall across to create one bigger room and one smaller one, but it could take a while."

"Surely the solution then…" Cas said slowly. "Is that we share a room? Like you had planned with Sam?"

"But it's different with us." Dean blurted out without meaning to. He stopped himself, putting a hand over his mouth and playing it off by pretending to rub the stubble on his jaw. He pushed the cart into the next aisle, hoping that Cas would drop it.

Cas did not drop it.

"What exactly do you mean by that?" Cas asked, almost breaking into a jog to catch up with Dean.

"Nothing. Look, just leave it, okay? I'll put a mattress in the babies room and sleep on that. I've had way worse." He added at Cas' dismayed look.

"But I don't understand, where is the difference between us sleeping in two single beds and you and Sam sleeping in two single beds?"

"Because we fucking _kissed!_" Dean hissed in a low voice, conscious of the late night shoppers around them. Cas still looked confused.

"But…how does that stop us from sleeping in the same room?" He blinked back, head tilt in play. Dean was gobsmacked. Surely Cas knew that you just didn't…there were just some things that you just…

Oh great. Now he was doing that thing again, that whole 'Staring straight into your eyes in the most fucking intense manner possible and making your retinas tingle' thing and _holy fuck he actually looked like he might just slam Dean up against the shelves and take him right there and then and oh god that just seemed like the best idea in the world right now _and then Dean came to his senses because he could hear his name being called out.

"Dean? _Dean? _Is there anything else we need to get in this aisle?" Cas' voice broke through his unconsciousness. Dean gritted his teeth and clenched his fists on the bar of the cart.

"No. Let's just…let's just grab some more formula and go already." He growled, spinning the cart around and bypassing the clothing aisles completely.

Once Dean had grabbed more formula and calmed down, they pulled into one of the emptier check outs. A young college-aged girl with blonde and blue hair sat behind the till, scanning their items through with a deathly bored face. She snapped her gum as she bagged up the few items, eyesight never leaving the shopping. She put the last item through, and only then did she take a look at the customers in front of her.

"That's $21.60 please." She said, giving Dean a forced grimace that could only come from the kind of person who had been given the duty of cleaning up 'Mysterious spills' in the Men's room earlier that morning, had missed lunch due to an accident in Aisle 5 with a toddler, a broom and a tower of spaghetti jars, and had done it all while still weighing over yesterday's break-up in their mind. However, her gaze then flitted across to where Cas was standing at the head of the cart, brushing back Noah's hair from his face while making coo-ing noises.

Suddenly her face lit up.

"Oh…" She said in a soft voice. "You guys make an adorable family! You look like the poster family for America's "Alternative Lifestyle" or whatever, seriously. I can imagine you guys in a magazine, posing in front of a white picket fence with a Labrador or something. Did you guys adopt? My Aunts have been trying for _months, _can't even get past…" Her voice tailed off as she noticed Dean's expression.

"I-I-I'm sorry sir, I just…" Dean shoved a ten and a twenty onto the check out.

"Keep the change." He spat out, storming out of the store and leaving a very shocked teenager, a very confused ex-angel and two babies who were too young to know that something highly important had just sparked in their father's head in tow.

There was a tense moment of silence as Cas put the bags back into the cart.

"I'm sorry. He's not normally like…" Cas stopped himself, not wishing to lie to the girl. "It wasn't your fault. Erm…have a nice day." He stuttered, hurriedly pushing the cart out of the store without another word.


	9. When I'm 64

**Pretty pleased that I managed to write this fairly quickly. I was on a bit of a roll...Anyway! Thank you so much for all the reviews so far, they've been really helpful and encouraging! I got a little carried away with this chapter, so again it's longer than the others. You guys don't mind that though, right? Not even sure how to categorise this chapter. Unabashed fluff with hints of angst? Not a freaking clue, but R&R all the same!**

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><p>Dean stormed through the front door, sleeping baby in each arm. He ignored Bobby and Sam's greetings as he entered, walking straight past them and heading for the babies' cots. His bad mood had not dissipated throughout the car journey home, even though it had been spent in silence. Cas even considered zapping back at one point. Now he trailed behind Dean while carrying the gains of the shopping trip.<p>

"What's shook his boat then?" Bobby grumbled, coming over to inspect the shopping. Cas stayed silent. Bobby nodded in approval at the shopping, before turning to Sam with a slight smile on his face. "Damn well _told _you they wouldn't get no vitamins. You wanna raise the healthiest angel in the garrison, you gotta do it yourself, 'cause Dean sure as hell ain't taking him to no gyms or those health food shops that sell you birdseed to eat."

Cas reached into the bag and pulled out some of the items, inspecting in particular the razor Dean had picked out for him.

"How exactly do I…" His voiced trailed off as he read the packaging.

"Oh, it's pretty easy. Let's see, did he get you foam as well…yeah, he did, that's good. Okay, so you just have to…" Sam started, but he stopped when Dean entered the room. "You okay?" He asked. Dean nodded, jaw still clenched.

"Heard something about you teaching Cas to shave?" He commented, grabbing a beer from the fridge.

"Uh, yeah, I just thought maybe that I'd do it, 'cause you seem kinda wrecked, thought you might want to get some sleep?" Sam offered. Dean shook his head furiously.

"Nuh-uh. No frigging way. You'll end up giving him a little swirly goatee and giant triangular sideburns or something. _I'll _do it. Least he won't be getting asked if he's that Senator Rain dude." Sam gaped for a second.

"It's Seneca Cra-"

"Whatever, dude, don't nerd out on me. Cas, c'mon." He grabbed the whole shopping bag from the counter and headed upstairs, not bothering to even check if the angel was following him. Because he didn't need to.

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><p>"Are you still…pissed?" Cas questioned when they got into the bathroom. Dean chuckled under his breath at Cas' choice of words. He was slowly getting the hang of swearing, after much observation of the brothers.<p>

"Dude, don't worry about it. I wasn't pissed at you, okay? I just…" He shook his head. "You wouldn't understand it." He ran a flannel under hot water before handing it to Cas.

"Well then _make _me understand. Explain it." Cas began to sound exasperated.

"Look, just…wet your damn face, okay?" He nodded towards the flannel and Cas began to rub it over his face. "It's just one of those things. I've had a beer, taken a breather, calmed down. I'm good now."

"It's about that woman at the shop, isn't it?" Cas asked quietly, dropping the flannel in the sink. Dean gaped at him for a moment, before he clenched his jaw stubbornly.

"Can we just get to the situation at hand, please? Okay, so next you gotta lather this on your cheeks, around your mouth, your jaw and your neck. Pretty sure you can handle that yourself. Got it?" Dean handed the cream to Cas, hoping that he _could _handle it by himself.

"Fine. I just…don't understand why you're so upset about it. It was aimed at me too, and yet I feel no anger about it." Cas added, doing as Dean had told him. Dean stared at him, dumbfounded.

"Cas, she pretty much assumed we were married. Romantically linked. Together. Does that not bother you in the slightest?"

"No. Why does it bother you? Besides, it wasn't an entirely false assumption. The connection between us recently _has_ been leaning towards romantic."

"We kissed _one freaking time, _Cas. Once. That was it, okay?"

Cas' foam covered face turned practically livid.

"Sure. One kiss. One kiss, and the hand holding. And the fact that you sat with me all night, holding me up. And then there was the very barely controlled urge you had to slam me against the shelving. And all the little things before. I'm not naïve, Dean."

Dean could feel the prickly heat of shame crawling around his neck and up to his cheeks. He had never meant to do any of those things, they all just sort of…happened subconsciously. And then to find out that Cas had noticed the look in his eyes in the supermarket? That he wanted so badly to just…well, he _wanted, _period.

Dean had been so lost in his own thoughts that he barely even registered that Cas had carried on without him. Half of his face was now both foam-free and stubble-free. Clearly he _could_ cope.

"So are you…in favour? Of us becoming romantic or whatever? Is that what you want?"

Cas, the bastard, actually _chuckled _at that. For a second, Dean pictured more stubble, a loose dirty top, and glazed over eyes and shuddered. No. He wasn't going to let Cas turn into that, whatever the cost was. It wasn't going to happen.

"Are _you?_" He asked, looking straight through Dean.

"I don't freaking know! You really think I've thought this through? What it would be like to be with you, as a…whatever it is we would be!" Dean exploded, throwing his hands up in the air. "I don't know what the hell I think about this, I seriously don't."

Cas washed the last of the foam from his face before stepping in front of Dean, staring into his eyes.

"Fine. Well when you've decided, I'll be here." He said coolly. He waited for a second in front of Dean, but before his mind could catch up, Cas was out of the door.

"Fuckin' angels." Dean growled.

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><p>Dean finally crawled under the covers, turning the bedside lamps off and letting his head hit the soft pillow. He closed his eyes and rolled over to the leather side of the pillow. <em>Wait…<em>He thought. _Bobby doesn't have leather pillows. _

He was pretty sure that the room didn't have an engine in it either, but he could definitely hear the purr of one. And last time he checked, the bed was flat, not seated. And he definitely didn't put The Beatles on before he went to bed.

"_When I get older, losing my hair/Many years from now/Will you still be sending me a valentine?/Birthday greetings, bottles of wine?" _Came the tune from the stereo that Dean was pretty sure didn't even exist. He dared to open his eyes.

He was in the Impala. He was driving along a road that wasn't particularly noteworthy, and the weather seemed average for this time of year. The sun was out, but it wasn't too warm. He seemed to be driving on auto pilot, but it agreed with him. It felt like the most natural thing in the world.

Until he noticed the archangel bopping his head happily while sitting shotgun.

Gabriel sat in the passenger seat with a smile on his face. He jutted his head in time to the music.

"_Will you still need me, will you still need me, when I'm 64? _Man, great song right?" Gabriel sang along, tapping his fingers in time to the music on the Impala's dashboard. "I mean, I know you're not really a fan- with the exception of _I Want You (She's So Heavy)_, of course- and that this is probably one of Sammy's tapes, but still…Peanut?" He held out a bag of chocolate coated nuts to Dean, who glowered at him.

"This is a dream, right?" Dean sighed, resigned to the fact that he was being sleep-violated by angels. Again. Gabriel winced slightly.

"Kinda, yeah. It's more sort of…a constructed reality? There's something I need to show you. I _guess _it's a trip into the future, you remember how Zachariah took you to the big finish?"

"Sure as hell ain't gonna forget any time soon." Dean thought for a second about his militarian future self, Lucifer finally getting his hands on Sam, and Cas becoming a drugged up sex-hobo. He shuddered slightly, gripping his hands onto the steering wheel tighter.

"Well then, this is basically like that. This is all a possibility. Pull up here?" Gabriel indicated to his right, towards a block of apartments. Once Dean had parked up, he turned towards Gabriel, who looked like he was thinking something over.

"I should probably tell you now, I've made it so that nobody will see or hear you. Not here. It's also probably a lot easier if I do this…" Without any other warning, Gabriel snapped his fingers and they had changed location.

They were in a bedroom. Red walls, soft brown carpet, morning sunlight streaming in through the closed curtains. Dean knew this room from…somewhere. He couldn't put his finger on it.

He looked at the furnishings. Nothing seemed to really match, everything was odds and ends. There were unpacked boxes stacked in one corner of the room. A large but simple bed took up a lot of the room. The covers were plain white, and were currently covering a huge lump roughly in the centre of the bed.

Dean opened his mouth to ask Gabe where the hell they were, when he was interrupted by a sleepy groan. It was coming from underneath the mass of blankets on the bed. He'd know that voice anywhere.

The voice yawned loudly, and Dean edged closer to the bed. He knew the deep voice because he'd heard that exact tone, that specific timbre, every day since his ba- well, you know. Since puberty.

"You awake, babe?" Dean heard his own voice say softly, muffled by the covers. Ahh. He could see where this was going already.

And then it hit him. This was the apartment that Bobby had shown them.

"So you're just gonna show me my future if I choose the apple pie lifestyle? A nice apartment, a wife, hell there's probably a dog around here somewhere too, am I right?"

Gabriel shook his head.

"Nope. For one, you'll find out that Beth is actually allergic to dogs, I'll give you that heads-up now. And for two…well, just watch." He leant back on the dresser with his arms folded over his chest, a smug smile creeping its way onto his face.

Dean looked at the dresser. There were multiple photo frames of the twins, from the age they were in the present, up to about a year old. Noah had thin strands of almost black hair protruding from his head, and warm green eyes. Beth had lighter brown hair, growing in masses of curls, and giant blue eyes. Something in Dean warmed to see that they looked so…_happy_ in all of the photos.

His train of thought was interrupted by his own voice coming from the bed again.

"Hey, c'mon. Don't pretend to sleep, I can see that little grin from over here, you ass." He heard himself chuckle.

"Mmmnope. Not me. I'm fast asleep." Another voice murmured happily.

Well _fuck._

Dean knew that voice too.

"Holy…fucking…_shit._" Dean's eyes went as wide as dinner plates, jaw dropping as he turned to Gabriel. Gabriel just grinned very smugly. "No. No no no. You're messing with me."

"Now why would I do that, hmm? Okay, look. Just bear with me? Save your big gay freak-out for another time, and just watch. Take a look at what your life could be like." And with that, Gabriel disappeared, leaving Dean to witness the odd life laid out before him.

"Great…just frigging great." He muttered. He could hear the quiet voices under the sheets in the background, and he was trying very hard to ignore them.

"Give me a break, I said I'd join Sam on that hunt after lunch, and I don't need to waste all my energy trying to get you out of bed."

"You're right. I'd much rather you waste your energy trying to keep me _in _bed. More enjoyable."

Dean stood in the doorway turning a rather delicate shade of green with his fingers in his ears.

"Not happening. Not happening. Angel mojo. Not real. Not gonna happen." He repeated his mantra until a louder voice interrupted his thoughts. A scream, rather.

"You _have _to get out now, they won't stop until you see to them. We'll carry this on later, promise." His voice said as his head peeked out from under the duvet. Dean examined himself from afar.

The same hair, just slightly longer and messed up because of sleep. His eyes looked a little brighter, his skin glowing slightly. Less stubble than Dean was used to. But it was still him. Just…happier, somehow.

"Fine. You'd _better_ carry it on later."

The sheets were thrown back completely, and Cas hopped out of the bed.

Dean took in the baggy AC/DC shirt that looked oddly familiar, the soft and clean hair, and the little bit of muscle that Cas had probably put on by adopting a healthy human diet. All proof that this little living arrangement had been going on for a while.

He watched as Cas padded his way across the room, ghosting past his arm as he walked into the hallway and the second bedroom.

"I'm coming, I'm coming. Papa's coming." He said loud enough for the twins to hear as he walked. Immediately, their cries quietened down, subsiding completely when he entered the room.

"Papa? Seriously?" Dean questioned nobody in particular. Maybe the heavens. "When did he become Pa…oh, come _on. _Really?" He groaned as he noticed that his counterpart was still lying in bed, wearing only his pyjama bottoms and a lazy grin. The half-nudity didn't bother him; the evident morning hard-on did.

"Okay. That's it. Gabe, beam me up!" He yelled to the ceiling.

_Nothing._

"You wait. You just frigging wait until I get my hands on you!"

He gave up, deciding instead to follow Cas into the smaller room. Cas was sitting in the space between the two cribs, a hand through each set of bars. One hand was shaking a rattle in Noah's direction as he cooed happily, the other was tickling Beth's chin as she giggled.

"_The little dog laughed to see such fun, and the dish ran away with the spoon_…Are you going to be good today? Hmm? Daddy's going with Uncle Sammy again today, so it's just Papa. You wanna make cakes again, hmm?"

Both toddlers squealed happily at the mention of cakes. Dean thought it looked so weird to see Cas be such a natural house husband. _His _house husband at that. Making cakes with the kids, singing nursery rhymes, waking up next to Dean every morning…

Dean looked at the walls of the nursery. Covered with multiple collage photoframes, they showed pictures of various family and friends. Dean and Cas with their arms around each others waists. Sam and Dean by the Impala. Bobby with a baby in each arm. Jo and Ellen sat either side of the babies on a sofa. Hell, even Gabriel had managed to make it up onto the wall. A photograph showed him and another man either side of Castiel, each one holding a baby. Dean didn't recognise the man, who had blonde hair, a smart jacket and a low cut t-shirt, but he assumed that he must have been one of Cas' brothers.

It almost looked like a normal suburban family apartment.

"Well I'll be damned." Dean muttered softly, taking in the way Cas looked at the kids. He really did care for them as if they were his own. That much was evident.

It was then that he noticed the two framed pieces of paper above each of the cribs. He leant over his babies so that he could read each one.

_This is to certify that Noah John Winchester is legally the child of Dean John Winchester and Castiel Winchester_

_This is to certify that Bethany Mary Winchester is legally the child of Dean John Winchester and Castiel Winchester_

Dean blinked at the certificates. They looked semi-official, more of a decoration than a legal contract, and Dean would bet anything that it was something Bobby had knocked up for them.

He then focused at the words _Castiel Winchester_.

"Whoa…" He whispered, leaning to touch the glass, fingers ghosting over the lettering. He heard a rustle of wings behind him.

"Sobering, huh? Don't worry, you never legally married. It was just a convenience, giving Cas a human surname and identity. Sure, there are certificates that Bobby doctored listing you as married, but there was no ceremony or anything. Same goes for the sprogs' birth and adoption certificates. Lists you as their biological father, and Cas as their adoptive father. These babies here are just a sappy, memorial combination of the three." Gabriel tapped the glass. "So, do you think you've had time to look around? I could leave you here for a little longer, if you'd like. It's getting close to morning now anyway, but I'm sure the others can take care of the kids if you want to explore some more?"

Dean was about to reply when his counterpart came into the room, now fully dressed.

"Change of plan. Sam's just called me, he's been researching with Bobby all night. They've got a lead, getting suited up as we speak. I'm gonna meet them at Bobby's and we're gonna take the truck out, so I'd better get going." He walked straight over to the cribs, pulling Noah out first.

"Hey munchkin, Daddy's off now, you be good for Papa?" He gave his son a squeeze, kissing him on the cheek. "You too, little missy. None of that whining like last time, hmm?" He kissed his daughter too, ruffling her light curls.

"Try to be home before dinner? If you're lucky, there might even be cakes left over when you get back." Cas smiled, watching Dean with the children.

"There damn well better be. I'll try to get back as soon as possible. Might even drag Sam and Bobby home with me." He leant down, kissing Cas tenderly on the cheek. "Love you, babe."

Cas smiled, standing up directly in front of Dean.

"Is that all I get? I'm making sure that you get baked goods when you come home, and all I get is a peck on the cheek?" He sassed, putting his hands on Dean's waist.

"Fine. Only 'cause I know they'll be iced, though." Dean growled, smashing his mouth against Cas' in a passionate kiss.

"God, I love you." Dean gasped when they broke apart.

"I love you too. Now, go kill some monsters for me." Cas grinned, sending him on his way.

"Shock to the system?" Gabriel asked Dean smugly once he had stopped watching the scene between his doppelgänger and his angel.

"You could say that." Dean replied, dazed by what he had just witnessed. The looks on their faces…it was pure and utter adoration. Nothing he had ever experienced first hand before, something he had seen second hand only a few times.

"Well then. Maybe you'll take some time to have a little think about what exactly you want from my dear brot-"

Dean woke up covered in a sheen of cold sweat.

"Damn…son-of-a-bitch…fucking…angels!"


End file.
